7 November 2018
The Airspace & Safety Initiative has reported that infringements in the Birmingham area have exceeded 40 so far this year.
“To date there have been 42 reported airspace infringements of the Birmingham CTA/CTR,” says the ASI report.
“Of these, 20 (over 47%) have been inside CTA2. This is the Control Area immediately to the south of the CTR (CTA2 1500ft – 4500ft).
“Main causal factors identified related to poor altimetry (pilots operating on Wellesbourne or Coventry QFE or Regional QNH instead of the Birmingham QNH) or poor navigation.
“Pilots intending to overfly the VRP at M40 Junction 15 at Warwick should note this lies underneath CTA2. To avoid infringing CTA2 use the Birmingham Listening Squawk of 0010 and listen out on 123.980 MHz, ensure use of the Birmingham QNH.”
The ASI also recommends using its Take 2 principle (pictured above).
1 comment
I think that the policy of pilots being given the lowest forecast qnh forecast in the altimeter setting region is the cause. It is often way below the actual qnh. This is obviously done for extra safety for terrain clearance, but for vfr flying, not much practical value. However,once set,it is treated as the actual qnh. Perhaps a more realistic pressure setting should be used.